Bearing cap



Feb. 9, 1926. 1,572,287

|-:. HEITMAN ET AL BEARING CAP Filed August 23, 1921 S Patented elm; 9, 19 26 UNI -D STA TEs I PA

EDWARD HEITMAN,.OF J EsEY erry, AND JOHN F. riwnEAU, E BAY NNE, NEW J'EBSEY, ASSIGNORS r0 ELEcrEo DYNAMIC COMPANY, or BAYONNE, NEW JERSEY,

A CORPORATION on NEW JERSEY.

BEARING cari Application and August 23, 1921". Serial E6. 494,619.

To all whom, it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD HEITMAN,

I a resident of Jersey City, State of New Jersey, and J oHN F. TRUDEAU, a resident of Bayonne, State of New Jersey, have v invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bearing Caps; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others ski'lled in the art to which it appertains to malre and use the same:

' This invention relates to hearing caps for protecting bearings against the entrance of water and has for its object the provision of an improved water excluding hearingcap. It is not infrequently necessary to. operate the bearings or journals of various kinds of machinery in damp or wet places where they are exposed to a greater or less extent to splash water such, for example, as spray or rain. When the machinery is operated in places where its parts are exposed to splash water the watercollects upon, the rotating shafts, is worked along the shaft by itsrotation and then-tends to enter the'various hearings which are provided for the support of the shaft. Again, in certain other instances, it is necessary or desirable to operate machinery under conditions where certain of its bearings ,and the shafts passing through them are more or less completely submerged in water. In such cases the pressure, or head, of the water tends to force it into thebearings, -An electric motor is an example pf one particular kind of apparatus which is sometimes operated-with its bearc ings exposed to'splash water, ofentirely-sub valsfor hours at a time.

merged in water. The improved bearing cap has been extensively employed on shipboard for the bearings of winch motors which are located on deck and frequently exposed to Waves washing over the rail. In rough weather these, motors are not infrequently submerged,-by such wavesfor periods ranging from a few seconds to,severalminutes, the submerging recurring at'frequent inter- It is of greatimportance to the successful operation of such bearings that this water which tends to find its way into them be effectively excluded. It interferes with'the lubrication of thehearings and. if it enters in suflicient uantity drives out the greater part of the In ricant from between the hearing surfaces. The water may also work completely through a bearing and reach the inside of the casing ofithe machine and dam-' 1228 ENT OFFICE.

age the appartusv contained within this casing. As an illustration, in the case of.

an electricmotor, if water gets into the casing and comes in contact with the windings or commutator it-ma-y, sooner or later, seriously damage the *entiremachine. 4

spaced from, the shaft, and having means providing an unrestricted flow of drainage from the chambers When the shaft is exposed tofithe action of splash water, such as spray or rain, the closely spaced end walls serve to pick up the drops of water forming on the shaft and carry them away from the shaft and thus prevent the entrance of water into the hearing. This action is sub stantially the same whether the shaft is stationary or rotating, but when the shaft is rotating the centrifugal effect assists in throwing the drops of water, from the shaft onto the. walls of the annular chamber.

When'the bearing is to operate under con-' ditions where it is to be submerged, -a 'plu rality of annular chambers (preferably two) are provided, and ya water-deflecting element surrounds the shaft within the outer chamber. Also a centrifugal water-throwing device is provided on the shaft within the inner chamber. The end walls or flanges f ofthe two chambers each closely surround but are slightly spaced from the shaft. If

We have found that water can be very effectively excluded from bearings by proa bearing provided with such a water-ex- I eluding device is submerged, a relatively thin annular stream of water entersthe device between the outside end wall and the shaft? This annular stream impinges against the water-deflecting element which isurrounds the shaft in the path of'the an-- nularstream, and the stream is effectively -defiected thereby against the walls of the outer annular chamber'from which it drains through an exit which provides'an unrestricted flow of the water so that there is no possibility of'an accumulation of water within the annular chamber.

In the accompanying drawings we'have illustrated our invention as applied to a friction reducing bearing of the ball type althoughthe invention is, of course, also applicable to a bearing of the plain or sleeve showlng a modified form of the invention outer wall an annular chamber 9 surround-- in which two chambers are provided in the bearing cap.

Fig. 3 1s a cross sectlonal view on a re- ;Fig. 4 is a view, partly in section and partly in elevation, showing a furtherapplh cationof our invention.

Referring to Fig. 1 of these drawings which illustrates a bearing ca) having a single chamber, shaft 1 is provided with a hardened collar 2 forming a part'of the ball bearing and secured on the shaft in any appropriate manner. Collar 3, between which and collar 2 the balls 4 operate in a suitable raceway provided therefor, is rigidly secured to frame 5 which may he the casing of anelectric motor. .Secured to the outer surface of frame 5 is'the water-defleeting cap protecting the bearing and com-. prising an outer wall 8 having flanges 6 and 7 extending inwardly from wall 8 in the direction of shaft '1, and forming with the ing the shaft. Chamber 9 is provided at the bottom with a drainage duct 10. -VValls 7 and 8 of the water-deflecting capflprotect the portion of shaft 1 immediately ad jacent to the bearing from the action of the water so that any water that tendsto enter 7 the bearing must pass through the narrow 1 is carried throughframe 5 by means annular space between shaft 1 and wall 7. Wall -7 is so closely spaced from the shaft that it picks up the drops of water which tends to enter here and conveys them downwardly away from the shaft. If the shaft is rotating the centrifugal efi'ect assistsin throwing water-off of the shaft and onto the walls of chamber 9 from which it drains away through the drainage ducts 10.

Referring now to Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawingsthere is here shown a water-de-v flecting cap similar to the cap above described but provided with two catch (31121-111 bers and intended for use where the bearing is to be submerged. In these figures shaft 0 a ball bearing as previously described. Frame 5 supports the water-deflecting ca comprising the'outer wall 18 surrounding the shaft and having flanges 15, 1,6 and .17. ex-- tendin inwardly therefrom iii the direction of thehshaft. vThe inwardly eftending flanges or end walls 15, 16 and 17 together with outer wall 18 form two annular chambers i9jan'd 20.surrounding the shaft. Passage 22 through wall 16 at the bottom ofthe ap connects chambers 19and 20 and allows thesechambers 'to drain into the common drain pipe 24. Shaft 1 is provided withan enlargement forming a shoulder 23 disposed within the outer chamber 20 so as to actas a water-deflecting and also as a waterthrowing means within this chamber. Shaft 1 is also provided with a groove which forms a second shoulder25 within the inner chamber 19 which is adapted to function as a seeondwater-throwi-ng device. lVhen this water-deflecting cap is placed ,duced scale taken on line 33 of Fig. 2, anclupon a'bearing which is either exposed to the action of splash water or submerged, it very effectively prevents the entrance of water .to'the bearin If the shaft and hearing are exposed to t is action of splash water 'only, the water collects'upon the outer left. handend of shaft 1 in drops and these vgradually "work along the shaft in one di-' rection or another by its rotation and some of them will-tend to enter the bearing. Those tending to enter through the annular space between theyshaft and the outside end wall 17 are" in large degree picked up by this wall and carried away from the shaft because of the close roximity ofthe wall to the shaft. This action takes place whether or not the shaft is rotating. If, however, the shaft is rotating, water which reaches the shoulder 23 is thrown off by centrifugal I action and collected byannularchamber 20 from which it drains away-through pipe 24. Whatever water is'not removed by the cooperative action of shoulder 23 and chamber 20 either remains on the shaft or else works along the "shaft-towards the inner chamber/19,- and upon reaching the second shoulder 26 begins to pile up andform a ring around the shaft at this point, inasmuch as the centrifugal effect of the rotation of:t he shaft prevents the water from flowing toward the center .of the shaft across the face of shoulder 26. After the water has piled up in this ring-to a certain extent, depending, amon other things, surface tension of thewater, it is thrown off from the shaft, collected bychamber 19 and drained away through pipe 24.

In the event'that the bearingis Operated upon the submerged" in water ithepressure or head of the water' causes an annular stream to enter the water-deflecting cap betweenthe Shaft and flange 17. This water i'mmediately strikes shoulder 23 and a large amountof it is deflected from the shaft, collected by chamber 20 and drained off through pipe 2 kwhich'isarranged'to discharge in such manner as to allow free exit of any water tending to fiow through the pipe. Most of .the water is deflected from the shaft in this manner and the majority of the remainder is th own -01f by the centrifugal effect of the rotation of the shaft. \Vhatever is left is collected by chamber 19 as previously described.

In the modified application of my invention illustrated in Fig. 4 means are provided for draining away. any water that may succeed in getting into the motor casing, either around the shaft or in any other manner. The motor is provided with one or more two-chambered water-deflecting caps such as shown in Fig. 2. The bottom of the motor casing is made sloping as indicated at 6, preferably with its lowest point near one end of the casing as illustrated. A drain pipe 25 is connected at this lowest point and serves to carry off any water that may have obtainedentrance to the motor casing. Drain 'Ipipe T25 may be led into drain 24, from the water-deflecting cap, or it may be carried separately to the place of discharge. C

By the use of this water-deflecting cap of our invention, we have found that a very reliable and efiicient means is provided for preventing the entrance of water to bearings with particular effectiveness and which, on account of its simplicity, may be produced at relatively low cost. In the operation of our device a minimumof power is taken from the rotating shaft by friction or other means, as there are no stufling boxes necessary for its successful operation. The fact that our improved water-excluding device can be successfully used in many places to replace a stufling box or gland which is provided with packing is of especial importance. A stuffing box having packing in contact with the shaft requires that the packing be properly adjusted so that the friction will not be too great and yet will be sufficient to prevent leakage. In order to maintain such a stufiing box in proper operating condition it must receive periodical attention from a skilled workman. On the other hand, our improved water-excluding device is relatively easy to install and, after installation, needs no attention whatever. be used with particular advantage under circumstances where the proper periodical attention is diflicult to provide.

We claim:

1. In a device for excluding water from shaft bearings, a bearing cap recessed to form with the shaft an annular chamber and having an end wall closely surrounding but spaced from the shaft so as to admit a relatively thin annular stream of water into" the chamber when: the bearing is submerged, a. water deflectin element surrounding the shaft within sai annular chamberin the For this reason it may path of the annular stream for acting to direct the stream away from the shaf'v and onto the walls of the chamber, and means for providing an unrestricted flow of said water from said annular chamber.

2. In a device for excluding water from shaft bearings, a bearing cap recessed to form with the shaft an outer annular chamher and a second annular chamber spaced inwardlythereof, said cap having an end wall closely surrounding but spaced from the shaft so as to admit a relatively thin annular stream of water into the outer chamber when the bearing is submerged, a waterdeflecting element surrounding the shaft within said outer chamber in the path of the annular stream for acting to direct the stream'away from the shaft and onto the walls of the outer a chamber, centrifugal means on the shaft within the second chamber for throwing water tending to creep along the shaft onto the walls of this last mentioned chamber, and means for providing an unrestricted flow of water from both of said annular chambers.

In a device for excluding water from shaft bearings,- a bearing cap recessed to form with the shaft an outer annular chamher and a second annular chamber spaced inwardly thereof, said cap having an end wall closely surrounding but spaced from the shaft so asto admit a relatively thin annular stream of water into the outer chamber when the bearing is submerged. a waterde-fiecting element surrounding the shaft within said outer annular chamber in the path of the annular stream for acting to direct the stream away from the shaft and onto the walls of the chamber, a wall inter-.

mediate said annular chambers closely surrounding but spaced from the shaft to pick up drops of water forming on the shaft and reduce the creepage between these chambers, a third similar wall between the second chamber and the bearing, and means providing an unrestricted flow of water from both chambers.

4. In a device for excluding water from tures.

' EDWARD HEITMAN. JOHN F. TRUDEAU. 

